Leadership: To Serve or To Be Served?
Great ambition without contribution is without significance. What will your contribution be? How will history remember you? – From the movie “The Emperor’s Clothes”
Much has been written about “servant leadership”, a term coined by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s and espoused by others over the past few decades. In reality, the concept of serving others through leadership and its principles have been in practice and encouraged for centuries. But on a day-to-day basis, how does a corporate leader or manager reconcile the ideas of “leading” and “serving”? To start, one must look at their attitude, their actions and their aspirations.
Attitude
What one believes about being a leader and serving will in large part drive their ability to adopt such principles. Take for example, Ken, a VP at a major technology company, whom I coached. Ken’s approach to managing his unit was that his staff exists to help him reach the division goals. In fact, while he could not initially see nor admit it, his attitude was one of “you are here to serve me” rather than “I am here to serve you”. It was no surprise, therefore, that Ken experienced significant turnover in his group and complaints about his autocratic management style ran rampant throughout the organization. With a heavy dose of feedback, Ken realized the benefit of flipping his script. If he could channel his energy to helping his team achieve the goals rather than seeing his staff solely as a means to his end, his results as a leader would have far better yield.
Action
While attitude is the place to start, follow-through is critical. How does a leader’s day-to-day actions embrace the principle of serving? At its core, a servant leader’s actions demonstrate consistent consideration of others’ agendas besides his/her own. This is achieved by the acts of listening, dialoguing, clarifying expectations, and making integrity-driven decisions. Ken, in his efforts to improve his leadership impact, began modifying his actions. He spent time listening to the concerns and ideas of his staff and peer stakeholders. He brought transparency to his decision making whenever possible making it clear that he was taking into consideration what was best for the organization and the relevant stakeholders involved. Over time, his consistent actions enabled him to more strongly lead his group through stressful, ambiguous situations.
Aspirations
Holding a posture of servant leadership requires one to examine their goals: what do you hope for? These are aspirations beyond the immediate business deliverables at hand. Rather, they reflect a desire to make an impact that remains long after the leader is gone from the position. When I asked Ken what he wants to be remembered for in this role once he moves to another opportunity, he realized that beyond over exceeding the business objectives, he wanted his team and clients to remember him as someone they would want to work with again because of what they learned from him. As a servant leader, one must aspire to make an impact beyond one’s own ambitious or material needs. It is this ability to look and strive beyond self-focus that enables a person to lead by serving.
Take some time to examine your leadership approach. What changes can you make in your attitude, actions, and aspirations, to allow serving to be part of your leadership repertoire all year long?
Reflection Questions:
Leading by serving means looking beyond oneself to the contribution you can make to others. This does not necessarily mean following in the world-changing footsteps of a Mahatma Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr. Rather, every manager has the ability to make contribution in their day-to-day role.
- What drives you to lead?
- What would it mean for you to “serve rather than be served” in your current role?
- How would serving strengthen your leadership impact?
– Muriel Maignan Wilkins